Signal



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

J. P. RIETHMAYER.

I SIGNAL.

No. 345,862. Patented July 20, 1886 yili z a? WITNESSES IN VENTOR (NoModel.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. F. RIETHMAYER.

SIGNAL.

Patented July 20, 1886.

Iii

INVENTOR Z. &

ATTORNEYS.

WITNESSES N. PETERS. Pbmwlmwgnphan Wadinm D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB F. RIEIHMAYER, OF LANSDALE, PENNSYLVANIA.

SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 345,862, dated July 20,1886.

Application filed April 28, 1886.

Serial No. 200,439. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB F. RIETHMAYER, of Lansdale, in the county ofMontgomery and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and ImprovedSignal, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to the construction of a mechanism designed tosound an alarm and display a warning flag or light upon the approach ofa train; and to the end named the invention consists of a bar carrying aflag or light and normally held within a casing by a spring-catch, butso arranged as to be moved forward by the action of a weight when thecatch is withdrawn by a tripping mechanism actuated by the train; andthe invention further consists of a bell and its hammer and a rackcarrying pins, the parts being so arranged that an alarm will be soundedat the time the visible signal is displayed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figurel is a side view of my improved signal, the door of the case beingthrown back to disclose the construction of the operating mechanism.Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view taken on line a: w of Fig. 1. Fig; 3 isa sectional elevation taken on line y y of Fig. l, and Fig. 4 is adetail view illustrating the construction of the segmental pin -rack bywhich the bell-hammer is moved.

In constructing such an apparatus as is illustrated in the drawingsabove referred to, I provide an inclosing case or box, A, that islocated at the intersection of the railroad and a highway, and in thisbox A, I mount a sliding bar, B, upon one end of which there is arrangeda flag, 0, the bar being formed with slots a, through which there arepassed bolts b b, by which the bar is upheld. Upon one face of the bar Bthere is a shoulder, a, that normally rests against a spring'catch, 0,said catch being secured to the side of the casing A. To the inner endof the bar B there is secured a wire rope or chain, d, which passesforward from its point of connection with the bar to and over a sheave,e, that is fixed to the vertical post E of the casing A, and to thelower end of this rope cl there is suspended a heavy weight, D, thetendency of which case.

Inorder that the catch Gmay be withdrawn from engagement with theshoulder a, I arrange rock-shafts F F beneath the rails at points uponeither side of and at quite a distance from the signal. These shafts F Fare each provided with a trippingarimf, which projects upward to a pointabove the tread of one of thetrack-rails, the arms being outside of therails, as shown, and being normally upheld by springs 20 a.

In addition to the arms f, the shafts FF are provided with lever-arms GG, and these arms G G are connected by chains or ropes I I to a rope orchain, H, the upper end of which is secured to the catch 0, and passesfrom the catch out over a sheave, g, as clearly shown in the drawings,the chains or ropes I I passing from the levenarms to and around sheavesh [6, located beyond the shafts, and then forward along the line of thetrack to other sheaves, hh, and then up to the rope or chain H From thearrangement described it will be seen that if the arm f of either of theshafts]? F is depressed by the flanges of the wheels of an approachingtrain the lever arin G or G will act through the medium of theconnecting chains or ropes to draw out the catch 0, and as soon as suchcatch is withdrawn from engagement with the shoulder a the weight D willbe free to fall, and in so falling will force out the bar- B, and thusdisplay the flag or light carried by the said bar.

It is necessary that the signal should be withdrawn after the train hasreached or passed the highway, and to meet this requirement I provide alever, J, the lower end of which is pivotally connected to the casing bymeans of a bracket, 7'. In this lever J there is an elongated slot, 2,through which a bolt, 76, extends, said bolt projecting outward from andbeing rigidly fixed to the bar B. Just opposite the point at which thesignal is located there is a third rock-shaft, K, provided withtripping-arms Z Z, which when the catch G is in engagement with theshoulder a, are just on a level with the heads of the rail and with alevenarm, L, which is fixed to the shaft just beneath the signal, thesaid lever L being connected to the lever J by a chain or is to forcethe bar B forward and out of the rope, N, which passes overguiding-sheaves, n, and 0, as clearly shown. Now, when a train hastripped the mechanism employed to display the signal, the arms Z Z willbe raised above the treads of the rails, and when struck by the trainwill be depressed to their normal position, and in being so moved willcarry the lever L to such a position that the bar B will be forcedwithin the casing A, so'that the oatchO and shoulder a will once morebecome engaged.

In order that an audible as well as a visible signal may be displayed, Iarrange asegmental rack, M, which carries pins m m, upon the upper endof the lever J, said rack being strengthened and supported by abracing-bar, 12, arranged as shown.

Upon the top of the casing there is a gong or bell, O, and its hammer Pis pivotally connected to the case A at t, as best shown in Fig. 1. Thehammer P is normally held in the position shown in Fig. 1 by a spring,q, and is provided with a short arm, R, which extends downward into thepath of the pins m m, the arm B being connected to thehammer P by ahinge-joint, 1", and held extended, as shown, by a spring,'s, so thatwhen the bar B, with its pin or pins m, is being forced outward and thelever J is moving forward thearm R will act to throw the hammer againstthe bell and so sound an alarm by one or more strokes. When the lever ismoving backward, the arm'R will simply move upon its hingeconnectionwith the hammer, and the hammer will not be moved.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In analarm-signal, the combination,with a visible signal carried by asliding bar, of a weight connected to said bar by a chain or rope, aguiding-sheave arranged in advance of the point of connection betweenthe bar and chain, a spring-catch, and atripping mechanism,substantially as described.

2. In an alarm-signal, the combination,with a visible signal carried bya sliding bar, of a weight connected to said bar by a chain or rope, aguiding-sheave arranged in advance of the point of connection betweenthe bar and chain, a spring-catch, a rockshaft having a tripping-arm anda lever, a chain leading from said lever to the spring catch, andguidingsheaves, substantially as described.

3. In an alarm-signal, the combination,with a visible signal carried bya sliding bar, of a weight connected to said bar by a chain or rope, aguiding-sheave arranged in advance of the point of connection betweenthe bar and chain, a spring-catch engaging with the sliding bar, arockshaft having atripping-arm and a lever-arm, a chain leading fromsaid lever to the spring-catch, connecting chains or ropes andguiding-sheaves arranged as described, a lever, J, cord or chain N,shaft K, having trips I Z and a lever, L, and guiding sheaves over whichthe rope or chain N passes, substantially as described.

4. The combination of a sliding bar carrying a visible signal with aweight, D, a connecting rope or chain, 01, a sheave, e, a spring-catch,O, and a tripping mechanism, a lever, J, a rack, M, having pins m m, anda bell and its hammer, whereby an audible signal is sounded at the timethe visible signal is displayed.

JACOB F. RIETHMAYER.

\Vitnesses:

L. M. DAVIS, O. M. EVANS.

